Saturday, February 22, 2014

Truth is truth

The
president has used drones to kill Americans, but claims he
has done so lawfully because he complied with secret rules
that he crafted.

Under
the Constitution, if the president wants someone dead, he
must afford the person due process or ask Congress to
declare war on the country housing the person. No worries,
he says — he has followed the secret rules that he wrote to
govern himself when deciding whom to kill.

The
president's agents now acknowledge that they spy on all of
us all the time, including members of the judiciary and
Congress. This, too, was done pursuant to a secret
presidential directive, secretly approved by judges acting
as clerks and not under the Constitution, and by a dozen
members of Congress sworn to secrecy. No law authorized
this, and the president won't discuss it meaningfully,
except to condemn its revelation.

And in
a series of salvos that hit home, the president has modified
the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) 29 times, by changing
its various dates of effectiveness for some but not for
others, by changing the meanings of terms for some but not
for others, and even by diluting the signature obligation we
all have to obtain the platinum insurance policies it
commands for some and not for others. He has done all of
this on his own, with no input from Congress. He has even
threatened to veto any congressional effort to enact into
law the very changes he alone has made.

The Judge is a Fox News analyst which means little girls like Bob Somerby squeal and prance around holding up their skirts like a mouse ran across the floor.

When Senator
Ron Wyden (a Democrat from Oregon) asked Director
Clapper during an intelligence hearing in March of last
year if the NSA was collecting the data of millions of
Americans, the
director lied under oath and denied the charge.

Had we been
transparent about this from the outset right after
9/11 – which is the genesis of the 215 program – and
said both to the American people and to their
elected representatives, we need to cover this gap,
we need to make sure this never happens to us again,
so here is what we are going to set up, here is how
it's going to work, and why we have to do it, and
here are the safeguards… We wouldn't have had the
problem we had.

The
United States needs intelligence gathering, the
ability to obtain and keep secrets, spying on foreign
powers and genuine threats and all the other tools
nations use to protect their security. No one is
disputing this.

But Clapper is being somewhat disingenuous here. Part of
the reason our government does some things behind
Americans' backs is not for security, but because
certain activities, if known, would outrage the public.

I'm a Democrat but I'm not a Kool Aid drinker.

What I called Bully Boy Bush out for is what I call out Barack for.

That should be true of us all -- regardless of which party we stand for.

Friday, February 21, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri's assault
on Anbar continues, the US continues to waste billions in Iraq, Nouri
needs vigilantes, and much more.

As Al-Monitor's Amal Sakr pointed out earlier this month, over 9.5 million Iraqis -- out of 34.7 million -- "are living below the poverty line."
Iraq's chief thug and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's on year eight,
the end of his second term, and he's done so very little to help improve
the Iraqi economy or create jobs.

That's all changing, however.

This week, Nouri introduced a new jobs program.

And if he can get people to carry around video camera or use their cell
phones to film, he can create even more jobs by turning the whole thing
into a television program.

He could make a programming bloc of it, pairing it with the forced confessions which already air on Iraqi TV.

The program could be called Who Wants To Be A Vigilante?

In a country marked by poverty, Nouri's grand idea?

Vigilante justice -- which is more justice than the country currently has, granted.

Al-Shorfa reports
Nouri's attempting to turn the country into bounty hunters. Kill a
'terrorist' and you'll get 20 million dinars (that sounds better in
Iraqi currency, in US dollars it's $17,172.53) and 30 million dinars
($25,758.80) if they capture the 'terrorist' alive.

Anyone else bothered by this?

Apparently not.

White House hasn't said a word.

So if you are an Iraqi in Iraq and you have someone you dislike, grab your gun, find them and shoot.

All you have to do is claim the person was a 'terrorist.'

You might get a reward.

But certainly you won't get prison because Nouri's not doing 'Most
Wanted.' No, he's not providing a list of ten people for you to hunt
down.

He's leaving it up to you to determine who is and who isn't a 'terrorist.'

And, hey, mistakes get made.

So you kill an innocent person or two.

Again, is anyone else bothered by this?

Vigilante justice in Iraq.

There are thousands of people on death row in Iraq right now -- at least
50 are foreign nationals from other countries. There have been
repeated cries for a moratorium. These are ignored.

And Iraqis are encouraged to embrace and cheer on executions.

Into this environment, you want to turn the country into vigilantes?

At what point is the US government going to assist the Iraqi government with supporting rule of law?

Those of us who had to sit through those awful 2011 Congressional
hearings where the State Dept offered one tight-lipped official after
another -- who could never explain what the billions they were getting
for Iraq were going to be spent on -- well know, the State Dept was
going to work on so many issues. Rule of law was one. Women's rights
was another.

It's hard to tell if the US press is just an enabler or a co-conspirator.

At any rate, it was just weeks ago that Nouri made the same appeal but without cash.

There was no embrace of it so now Nouri's tossing money and hoping that will put over the plan.

The plan, please note, that reveals what a total failure Nouri al-Maliki is.

With all the weapons provided by the US and other foreign governments,
with all the 'intelligence' the US military is currently providing
Nouri, with command of the Iraqi forces, the unconstitutional Tigris
Operation Command, SWAT, the federal police and so much more, he still
can't defeat the people he's defined as the 'enemy' (the ones others
call Iraqis).

The pernicious narrative, peddled by the Iraqi Government and picked up
in the mainstream media, that Al-Qaeda had taken over Fallujah, was a
long way from the truth. But it helped to secure an immediate delivery
of arms to the Iraqi regime from its US puppeteers to help quell the
protests in Anbar.For protests is what they are. They began over a year ago, demanding
the freeing of tens of thousands of detainees held without charge by the
security forces. Brutal torture and rape - regardless of gender - are
widespread in Iraq’s jails. Last year alone, the state executed 169
people, putting it third in the league behind China and Iran.The Iraqi Government’s accusation of an external Al-Qaeda takeover was
made to justify a ferocious siege and bombardment of the Fallujah and
Ramadi. As Iraqi activist Haifa Zangana has pointed out, “Al-Maliki
selectively chooses not to mention the regime's own militias: Asaib Ahl
al-Haq, Iraqi Hezbollah, the Badr brigades, factions of the Mahdi army
and the Mokhtar army. The latter's leader has bragged on Baghdadiya TV,
about their responsibility for several attacks. No investigation has
been done and no one was arrested. There is also hardly any mention of
the Iraqi Special Forces inherited from the occupation, especially
trained by Colonel James Steele under US ambassador John Negroponte and
attached now directly to al-Maliki's office. Above all, there is no
mention of the plethora of foreign-led special operation agents, private
security contractors, and organised networks of professional killers,
some of whom, many Iraqis believe, are protected by the regime, in the
shadow of the US' biggest embassy in the world, in the fortified green
zone in Baghdad.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/01/here-list-real-forces-behind-violence-iraq-201411613100570815.htmlGovernment shelling of the towns in Anbar Province has been intense.
Human Rights Watch has accused the regime of “indiscriminate mortar fire
in civilian neighbourhoods” and “killing its own citizens unlawfully”.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/09/iraq-protect-anbar-residents-abuses.
Hundreds of people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced.The Pentagon is considering following up its arms shipments with the
deployment of more troops in the region to train Iraqi forces. This
would be fitting, given the atrocities the US military inflicted on this
unhappy country along with a deliberate sectarian set of state
institutions. It is almost ten years since the first round of collective
punishment was inflicted on Fallujah - by US forces.The 2004 bombardment was a war crime. NGO's and medical workers
estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 mostly civilians were killed. In
addition, 36,000 of the city's 50,000 homes were destroyed, along with
60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines, and up to 200,000 residents were
forced to flee.Months later, the US admitted that it had used white phosphorous as a
battlefield weapon in the assault on Fallujah. A documentary on the
Italian RAI channel showed images of bodies recovered afterwards, which
it said proved the incendiary, similar in effect to napalm, had been
used against men, women and children who were burned to the bone.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the Iraqi regime is using similar munitions
this time around.

Xinhua reports
that Nouri's forces are boasting that they've retaken Sulaiman Bek and
killed 48 rebels. That might pass for 'success' to the extreme stupid.
But those paying attention to the seven-week-plus operation Nouri's
launched -- a campaign of terror on Anbar -- are fully aware that, when
the Anbar assault was launched weeks ago, Sulaiman Bek was controlled by
the Iraqi government. And those paying attention are also aware that
Sulaiman Bek is not in Anbar Province, it's in Salahuddin Province.

In other words, Nouri's assault on Anbar can seen as causing Nouri's
government to lose control of Sulaiman Bek and exposing the utter
weakness of Nouri's leadership.

Al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad received on-site support from an ICRC
surgeon in order to improve its emergency services capacity;

More than 2,200 patients received care at ten ICRC-supported and one ICRC-operated physical rehabilitation centres.

Meanwhile Isabel Coles and Jane Bair (Reuters) report
that, despite claimes from Hussain al-Shahristani (Iraq's Deputy Prime
Minister for Energy) earlier this week, the Kurds have not reached any
agreement with Baghdad regarding exporting oil. KRG spokesperson Safeen
Dizayee is quoted stating, "Absolutely we have not reached any
agreement to export oil via SOMO. The dialogue and discussions are
still under way."

Nouri's failures are many. He's attempting to coherce the Kurds on the oil by using the 2014 budget as a club.

That's right, it is February of 2014 and Iraq's still not passed a budget.

It only gets worse.

Kitabat reports Nouri made noises this week about the budget and specifically about a possible 35 billion deficit.

How does Iraq have a deficit?

They bring in tens of billions each month in oil revenues and Nouri
spends none of that on the people -- 8 years he's been prime minister
and potable water (drinkable water) is still an aspiration in Iraq not a
fact and he's also failed to deliver on electricity as well. In fact,
USAID announced this week they'll be working on electricity. That's
more US tax dollars going to Iraq. Iraqi News reports:, "The USAID in Iraq assured its cooperation with the Ministry of
Electricity to provide an uninterrupted supply of the electric power to
Iraq."

For years, the US government wasted US tax dollars on the Sahwa until
Senator Barbara Boxer wisely pointed out, in April 2008, that the Iraqi
government not only should be footing the bill for their own security
costs but also that they had the money to spend.

April 8, 2008, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing
and then-US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Gen David Petraeus offered
testimony. Senator Barbara Boxer raised the issue of the "Awakening"
Council and how "you are asking us for millions more to pay off the
militias and, by the way, I have an article here that says Maliki
recently told a London paper that he was concerned about half of them".
Boxer noted that the US was spending $182 million each year ($18
million a month) to "Awakening" Council members and "why don't we ask
the Iraqis to pay the entire cost of that program"?

And why isn't Nouri asked to pay for the cost of fixing the electricity?
Why are the US tax payers getting stuck with this bill?

35 billion dollar deficit?

Well Nouri's only son has no job and driving those fancy sports cars in
England requires money for gas and registration and, yes, purchase of
those vehicles. And the manor in the London countryside that Nouri's
son-in-law just purchased this month? That also costs money.

Nouri can't steal all the money he and his worthless family need --
steal it from the Iraqi people -- without creating a deficit.

That's 56 dead and two people injured which takes the death toll for the month thus far to over 700.

We'll close with this:Press Release by office of Struan Stevenson,
President of the European
Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq,
19th February 2014

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release - 19th February 2014

HIGH-LEVEL BRUSSELS CONFERENCE EXPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN IRAQ

A high-level conference involving some
of
the most prominent political and religious leaders in Iraq, was held in
the European Parliament, Brussels, on Wednesday 19th February. Organised
and chaired by Struan Stevenson, MEP, President of the European
Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq, the conference focused
on human rights in Iraq and featured speeches from Sheik Dr Rafe Al
Refaei - Grand Mufti of Iraq, Saleem Abdullah Al-Jabori - Chair of the
HR Committee in the Council of Representatives, Haidar Mulla - Member of
the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir -
KRG Head of Department of Foreign Relations, Yonadam Kanna - Chair of
the Labour and Social Affairs Committee in the Iraqi Council of
Representatives, Kamel Zozo - Syriac Assyrian Chaldean Movement,
Elisabetta Zamparutti - 'Hands Off Cain' NGO, Btrus Sliwa - Head of
the KRG's Independent Human Rights Board, Dr Abdul- Razzaq Rahim al-
Shemmeri- Spokesman for the Herak Delegation from Al Anbar Governorate,
Dr Sabah Al-Mukhtar - President of the Arab Lawyers Union, UK, Dr
Mohammad Taha Hamdoon, Spokesman of the Popular Movement in Iraq, Dr
Moneir Hashm Al-Aobyde, Spokesman for the Movement of Baghdad and many
others. The eminent speakers were welcomed by Dr. Charles Tannock MEP,
Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the ECR Group.

Many Iraqi guests had travelled to
Brussels to participate in the conference, which follows the publication
of a highly critical report on Iraq by the European Parliament's
Directorate-General for External Policies - entitled "Iraq's deadly
spiral towards a civil war". A resolution condemning the on-going
violence and abuse of human rights in Iraq is also under preparation in
the European Parliament and will be debated in Strasbourg next
Wednesday, 26th February. The draft resolution refers repeatedly to the
damning report on the abuse of women in Iraq published recently by Human
Rights Watch.

Speaking after the Conference, Struan Stevenson MEP said:

"Last November, I was in Iraq. I met with
many leading politicians, religious leaders and with courageous men and
women who had led popular uprisings and protests in Al Anbar and 6
provinces of Iraq and in many Iraqi cities. The message from all of them
was identical. They told me that lawlessness, terrorism, corruption and
the systematic abuse of human rights are each a daily feature of life
in Iraq. They told me that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is rapidly
becoming another Saddam Hussein and that modern Iraq is a dust bowl of
violence and bloodshed. More than 9,500 people died last year in bomb
attacks and assassinations in an increasingly ugly insurgency that
threatens to take the country back to the civil war that erupted from
2006-2008. Over 1000 have died already this year.

"It was these same people, people from
different ethnic backgrounds, from different faiths and creeds, but who
share a desire to see freedom, democracy, justice and peace restored to
their country, who urged me to organise today’s conference, so that they
could come to the European Parliament and reveal the truth about Iraq
to the West. I am deeply grateful to them and thank them for the
expense, effort and courage they have expended to come here today.

"They told us in graphic detail how Maliki
is using the Iraqi military in a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing
against the Sunni population of Ramadi and Fallujah, aided and abetted
by a generous supply of missiles, rockets, drones and other weaponry
from the US, which he uses to slaughter his own people, on the pretext
that they are terrorists. The US has even decided to sell and rent
Maliki Apache helicopters which he will use to massacre men, women and
children in Al Anbar. It is an outrage.

"I am also appalled at the treatment of
the 3000 refugees in Camp Liberty who are incarcerated in prison-like
conditions and where the Iraqis are even restricting supplies of food
and preventing emptying of sewage tanks, causing the camp to flood with
polluted sewerage water and risking health. These defenceless people
have been repeatedly attacked by Maliki's forces, including the horrific
massacre of 52 of their colleagues in Camp Ashraf last September, when 7
hostages were seized, 6 of whom are women and nothing has been heard
from them since. The limp-wristed response from the west has simply
encouraged further atrocities of this kind.

"It is time the West woke up to the
tragedy of Iraq. It was the US and the UK - George W. Bush and Tony
Blair - who invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam, declaring: "Mission
accomplished". They boasted that they had left behind "a functioning
democracy", when in fact they left behind a basket case. It was the US
who colluded with Iran to return Maliki to power after the last
election, even although he had lost that election by 2 seats. Now, in
breach of the Erbil Agreement, Maliki has retained control over the
Defence, Intelligence and Interior Ministries in his own office and he
has even created new, independent security 6 intelligence organisation
that is answerable only to him, giving him despotic powers.

"There is still time for the West to
reassert its authority and make amends for its disastrous intervention
in Iraq. The UN, US and EU must tell Maliki that his whirlwind of
bloodshed, violence, corruption and abuse will no longer be tolerated.
Unless there are free and fair elections on 30th April that
can restore a semblance of democracy to Iraq and provide the beleaguered
people of that country with a non-sectarian, secular government,
committed to the restoration of the rule of law and respect for human
rights, then the economic umbilical cord to the West must be severed."

In his address to the conference Dr Rafe Al Refaei - the Grand Mufti of Iraq, said: "Maliki
is following a heinous policy of indiscriminate bombings of innocent
people. The people of Al-Anbar did not start the war. We did everything
to reach a peaceful settlement. Maliki forces attacked the peaceful
rallies. They have bombarded the houses of innocent people. My own
brother was killed last week in the bombardment and was not from al
Qaeda or from Daesh. When Maliki launched his so-called war against
terrorists in the desert in Anbar province not a single combatant of al
Qaeda was killed. The only people killed were innocent shepherds. What
is happening in Fallujah is genocide. 1000 civilians have been injured.
Events in Iraq have taken a very dangerous turn. It could lead to a
civil war in which all Iraqi people will lose. The European Parliament
should deal with this matter. We've been handed on a golden platter to
the Iranian govt."

Saleem Abdullah Al-Jabori - Chair of the HR Committee in the Council of Representatives said: "We
called on the international community to come to our rescue, but we
were faced with just talk and no action. Now Iraqi women's tears have
dried up. We're sick of unfulfilled promises. But all of this has not
put an end to bloodshed in Iraq. All of the violations are serious, all
are important. They are issues of international governance and
international law. We Iraqis are the ones who suffer. Investigators use
torture to obtain confessions. We need to adopt legislation that will
put a stop to violations of prisoners. A person can be detained for
years on false accusations. But HR violations will not lead to the
eradication of terrorism. Our committee has managed to get many women
released from prison. Iraq is rich in diversity, but the killing still
goes on. There are around 10 car bombs every day. The Iraqi media should
be given more freedom to report the truth. Tens of thousands of
civilians have been displaced in al Anbar Province. A generation has
lost all of its rights."

Haidar Mulla - Member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives said: "Mr
Stevenson has increased the influence of the EU in Iraq and in
particular, he has increased the importance of HR. We had hoped that
Iraq would become a democracy after the fall of the previous regime. But
our HR record is not something we should be proud of. Our task is
difficult and complex. We have to pave the way for a culture that
respects HR. Until now GoI did not implement article 19 on HR. This is
not a gift to the people. It is their right. Currently there is a ratio
of one military personnel to 27 civilians and even so we cannot live
peacefully. We have a political crisis and we have to deal with it
politically."

Btrus Sliwa - Head of the Independent KRG Human Rights Board
said: "The Ministry of HR was abolished in 2009 because it was being
politically influenced. The government set up an independent board not
linked to any political body. There is a high rate of domestic violence
against women in parts of Kurdistan which we have legislated to stop.
There are also now an estimated 200,000 IDPs in Kurdistan as well as
over 200,000 refugees from Syria."

Dr Abdul-Razzaq Rahim Al Shemmeri - speaker for the Herak
Delegation from the al-Anbar Governorate said: "This is my first time in
the EU and I have come to bring the true voice of Anbar to the European
Parliament. Why do you turn a blind eye to the Shia militias who
slaughter our people? The Sunni movement entered the conflict through
the demonstrations and sit-ins which started in 2012. But it was clear
from the start that there was no political will to deal with the
demonstrators in a peaceful way. Maliki's army invaded the places where
the demonstrators were gathering. The crimes being committed there are
similar to Bosnia, Herzegovina. Anti-terrorist forces were sent by the
GoI in 2013 to arrest leaders of the so-called terrorist movement in
Anbar under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Maliki resorted to
threatening us, stating it was a rebellion under influence of foreign
forces. He told his forces to finish us off before we finished him off!"

Dr Sabah al-Mukhtar - UN Permanent Representative, Arab lawyers
Union, said: "Sending foreign troops to spread democracy turns the
concept upside down. HR abuses occur in every country, but Iraq has a
unique situation. Maliki abuses all of the human rights of all of the
people, all of the time. Iraq is also bottom of the transparency
international list of corrupt states, behind even Somalia and Sudan. Why
did the Americans liberate Iraq and then hand it over to the mullahs in
Iran?

Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir - KRG Head of Department of Foreign Relations, said:
"HR is not a privilege. It is a basic right. We care about HR because
as Kurds we have a long experience of suffering. Our democracy is in its
infancy. No-one can claim they are perfect. Respect for HR is what we
care about in Kurdistan. We have a culture of tolerance and peaceful
coexistence. This has led to prosperity for the people and an economic
boom. Diversity is the source of our strength. We have also provided
shelter for IDPs and refugees. The KRG also focused on women and
children to address issues that empower and protect them. Women must be
part of society and properly protected in all walks of life. Unlike the
federal government in Baghdad, we have always welcomed UN HR reports.
As Kurds we will not accept the status of 2nd class citizens. We'd like
to see all of Iraq become like Kurdistan."

Kamel Zozo, representing the Syriac Assyrian Chaldean Movement
said: "Iraq is a country for all of us. As Christians we've been there
since the creation of Iraq. Now we are filled with bitterness and
sadness when we see what has happened to the ethnic minorities. The
system of government in Iraq is now a despotic one. Christians are
doomed to extinction. This is the land of our fathers and forefathers
and yet we are being driven from it. We must enact necessary laws to
give us protection. Plans to change the demography of Nineveh and other
regions are directly targeting the Christian community. We are being
pushed into an unknown future. Can I request that EP pays attention to
the minorities in Iraq."

Elisabetta Zamparutti - Italian politician in the Radical
Movement and Treasurer of "Hands off Cain" NGO, said: "Executions began
again after a suspension in August 2005. Over 600 people have been
executed since then, 117 last year alone. Iraq is now 3rd behind China
and Iran for the number of executions it carries out. There are wooden
gallows working overtime in the old intelligence HQ building in Baghdad,
where Saddam was hanged. No records of these executions are kept. The
justice system in Iraq is broken. Those executed are not represented
properly. Evidence taken from secret informants cannot be challenged in
court. We need to reflect on the situation in Iraq today."

Struan Stevenson MEP

President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq

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About Me

I'm Michael, Mike to my friends. College student working his way through. I'm also Irish-American and The New York Times can kiss my Irish ass. And check out Trina's Kitchen on my links, that's my mother's site.